Sometimes the dog wags back

You may have heard the news that Senator Rick Santorum has been sending his six children to a Pennsylvania cyber school, even though they don't actually reside anywhere in Pennsylvania. The Santorum's own a house in Penn Hills, where they pay about $2,000 in annual property taxes. The house is occupied a man and woman with an unknown relationship to the Santorums. The annual bill for his children to attend the cyber school is $38,000 and in total, the financially strapped Penn Hills district has paid in excess of $100,000 to educate the Santorum children. It is unfortunate that the desire to keep the family together while he serves in DC conflicts with the requirement for a U.S. Senator to "inhabit" the state he represents, but there it is. Many U.S. legislators have had to balance this issue and in PA, he is the only one with school-age children that do not physically attend a school in-state. When he ran for Congress, he criticized his opponent for being a carpet-bagger who lived in DC. Funny how hypocrisy gives way to irony.

The story is picking up steam since it was broken local Vera Miller of the Penn Hills (Pa.) Progress on October 20, 2004, and is now being carried around the globe.

Allentown Morning Call, PA - Nov 16, 2004
Carlisle Sentinel, PA - Nov 16, 2004
Centre Daily Times, PA
Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail, WV - Nov 12, 2004
CJR Campaign Desk, NY - Nov 15, 2004
Guardian, UK - Nov 12, 2004
Kansas City Star, MO - Nov 13, 2004
KDKA, PA
Leader Times, PA - Nov 13, 2004
NEPA News, PA - Nov 12, 2004
Philadelphia Daily News, PA - Nov 13, 2004
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Nov 13, 2004
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - multiple
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - multiple
Washington Observer Reporter, PA - Nov 13, 2004
Washington Post, DC - Nov 14, 2004
WAVY-TV, VA
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
WNEP-TV